New Sante Fe suggestions?

Greetings all...
Just picked out a new Sante Fe for my wife. This will be our first Hyundai... so hopefully we'll be happy owners for quite a while. We're trading in our Honda Pilot which we both have enjoyed (2nd Pilot we've owned). She (we) chose the Sante Fe over a new Pilot. 

Any/all suggestions on anything to do with the vehicle regardless of what it may be is appreciated... We've bought low mileage but never new. What should we watch for for the first few thousand miles?

Specs...
08' AWD Ltd... 3rd seat w/DVD... tow hitch... carpets... splash guards... *color edit* ended up with Natural Khaki instead of white w/dark interior.

Thank you!!

Any Sante Fe owneres? Thanks...

I'm not a Santa Fe owner but I've always wanted one.  I drove one about a year ago wanting to replace my wifes Chrysler minivan with one.  She liked it but she would rather have a minivan.  She liked the Entourage or Kia Sedona better.  However, if were my choice, I'd get a Santa Fe (or a Veracruz).  I drive a Tucson currently and it's my 2nd personal Hyundai (I also bought a used Accent for my mother-in-law).  All 3 have been great cars.  I think you made a great choice.  Hondas are great but I think you pay extra just for the name.  Hyundai has become a great car company with real quality since about 2000-2001.  Good luck with your Santa Fe and welcome to the forum.

Welcome to Hyundai...
 
I bought a 2007 Sante Fe in December.  It's been okay... not my favorite vehicle by a long stretch.  You will notice noises that you probably will not be use to.  But with a 10 year warranty, you'll have plenty of opportunity to have the dealer fix things. :)
 
I plan on having the dealer look at something during every oil change. :)

quote:

ORIGINAL: NovaResource

I'm not a Santa Fe owner but I've always wanted one.  I drove one about a year ago wanting to replace my wifes Chrysler minivan with one.  She liked it but she would rather have a minivan.  She liked the Entourage or Kia Sedona better.  However, if were my choice, I'd get a Santa Fe (or a Veracruz).  I drive a Tucson currently and it's my 2nd personal Hyundai (I also bought a used Accent for my mother-in-law).  All 3 have been great cars.  I think you made a great choice.  Hondas are great but I think you pay extra just for the name.  Hyundai has become a great car company with real quality since about 2000-2001.  Good luck with your Santa Fe and welcome to the forum.

 
Thank you... I hope we made a good choice. We actually chose the Sante Fe over the Pilot. Prices were about the same. We had a dealer give us an insane price on a new Pilot but chose the Hyundai still. So I can't say I bought it to save a few bucks. Fit to finish I was very impressed with the build quality of the Sante Fe. We'll find out after we put a few miles on it.
 
All the best!

quote:

ORIGINAL: csmpez

Welcome to Hyundai...

I bought a 2007 Sante Fe in December.  It's been okay... not my favorite vehicle by a long stretch.  You will notice noises that you probably will not be use to.  But with a 10 year warranty, you'll have plenty of opportunity to have the dealer fix things. :)

I plan on having the dealer look at something during every oil change. :)

 
Hopefully they're just little quirks that can be ironed out. I have a Toyota Avalon with just 18k on it and I've got to say it has a few tiny noises as well. These are the little things that my wife never notices but drive me nuts. ;) Very few cars I've had are as quite as we probably think they should be. Good luck with your SF... :)

I think you made a great choice but I may be slightly biased.  Best of luck with it.  Happy motoring!

quote:

ORIGINAL: Shawk

quote:

ORIGINAL: csmpez

Welcome to Hyundai...

I bought a 2007 Sante Fe in December.  It's been okay... not my favorite vehicle by a long stretch.  You will notice noises that you probably will not be use to.  But with a 10 year warranty, you'll have plenty of opportunity to have the dealer fix things. :)

I plan on having the dealer look at something during every oil change. :)

Hopefully they're just little quirks that can be ironed out. I have a Toyota Avalon with just 18k on it and I've got to say it has a few tiny noises as well. These are the little things that my wife never notices but drive me nuts. ;) Very few cars I've had are as quite as we probably think they should be. Good luck with your SF... :)

 
I'm sure they can be ironed out.  One of them is a high pitch noise coming from the radio.  When you turn down the volumn to zero and then back up to one, you hear it.  I ask my wife, "you hear that!?!"  She looks at me like my dog does when you ask if it wants a treat and says, "hear what?"  I reply, "You can't hear that," as I turn it up and down from zero to one... I told her she should be a service manager for a dealership, she has all the right qualifications... "hear what..."

Assuming you have an automatic transmission, be aware that Hyundais use ONLY SP III AT fluid.  Don't let a tranny shop convince you that some kind of "universal" fluid will work; they can have detergents that can damage the innards of the tranny and torque converter on Hyundais.

quote:

ORIGINAL: csmpez

quote:

ORIGINAL: Shawk

quote:

ORIGINAL: csmpez

Welcome to Hyundai...

I bought a 2007 Sante Fe in December.  It's been okay... not my favorite vehicle by a long stretch.  You will notice noises that you probably will not be use to.  But with a 10 year warranty, you'll have plenty of opportunity to have the dealer fix things. :)

I plan on having the dealer look at something during every oil change. :)

Hopefully they're just little quirks that can be ironed out. I have a Toyota Avalon with just 18k on it and I've got to say it has a few tiny noises as well. These are the little things that my wife never notices but drive me nuts. ;) Very few cars I've had are as quite as we probably think they should be. Good luck with your SF... :)

I'm sure they can be ironed out.  One of them is a high pitch noise coming from the radio.  When you turn down the volumn to zero and then back up to one, you hear it.  I ask my wife, "you hear that!?!"  She looks at me like my dog does when you ask if it wants a treat and says, "hear what?"  I reply, "You can't hear that," as I turn it up and down from zero to one... I told her she should be a service manager for a dealership, she has all the right qualifications... "hear what..."

 
Funny stuff... :D 

quote:

ORIGINAL: Doohickie

Assuming you have an automatic transmission, be aware that Hyundais use ONLY SP III AT fluid.  Don't let a tranny shop convince you that some kind of "universal" fluid will work; they can have detergents that can damage the innards of the tranny and torque converter on Hyundais.

 
Thank you... that's good to know... my daily driver is the same... only Toyota stuff can/should be used.

Well, our Sante Fe is home and in the garage. We're thrilled with our decision to trade our Pilot in on our Sante Fe. Not once did I question at signing that we were in the right place. The vehicle appears to offer all the things we were looking for. 
 

Hey Shawk. I bought an 08 Santa Fe as well just a month ago. And like you I chose it over the Honda Pilot. The insane prices are due to the phase out of the 07 Pilots to make room for the totally redesigned 08 models. What really did it for me was how quiet and smooth the Santa Fe was as compared to the Pilot. Engine noise was non-existant. Also got the DVD option, a blessing with the grandson and his friends in the backseats. So far, all is well as I approach the inititial 3K oil change. Hey, if it's the consumer reports midsize SUV of the year it should be okay. Good luck with yours and I'll keep in touch if anything abnormal arises. I actually upgraded from my Ford Escape.....too small now.

quote:

ORIGINAL: glampins

Hey Shawk. I bought an 08 Santa Fe as well just a month ago. And like you I chose it over the Honda Pilot. The insane prices are due to the phase out of the 07 Pilots to make room for the totally redesigned 08 models. What really did it for me was how quiet and smooth the Santa Fe was as compared to the Pilot. Engine noise was non-existant. Also got the DVD option, a blessing with the grandson and his friends in the backseats. So far, all is well as I approach the inititial 3K oil change. Hey, if it's the consumer reports midsize SUV of the year it should be okay. Good luck with yours and I'll keep in touch if anything abnormal arises. I actually upgraded from my Ford Escape.....too small now.

 
I agee... I was surprised how incredibly quite this vehicle is. You actually have to listen at start up to be sure it's running. Highway noise is almost non-existent as well. Hyundai did a great job with this vehicle. We've only got a few miles on ours but haven't regretted our choice one time. Do keep us posted... I will too. All the best!